In Madagascar, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) plans to extend the deadline for submitting applications for the local and municipal elections scheduled for December 11 by one week, until September 26, 2024. The decision has yet to be confirmed by the government, following the low number of applications. Explanations.
2 min
With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Pauline Le Troquier
HAS Madagascaraspiring mayors and municipal councilors will have one more week, until September 26, 2024, to complete their candidacy files. This is what the general rapporteur of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), the body responsible for organizing the elections, told RFI on September 16.
The institution is still waiting for the green light from the government. A decision ” constraint ” because, for these local elections scheduled for December 11, only a tiny number of candidacies have been registered at this time.
Of the nearly 1,700 municipalities on the island, only 79 applications have been submitted, according to the latest data known to Soava Andriamarotafika, general rapporteur of the CENI.
CENI says this will not affect the election date
Will many municipalities find themselves without candidates on December 11? Yes, answers Herininahary Mosesy. The president of the Observatory of Public Life of Madagascar himself had to give up running for the urban municipality of Antananarivo. In addition to the inflation of deposits, inaccessible to many potential candidates, he points to more cumbersome administrative procedures to overcome this year: ” We do not make it easy for applicants to submit their applications. In these conditions, there will be a desert of candidates. This is tending towards something that is not at all democratic or in any case it does not advance democracy in this country. »
Other elected officials put the situation into perspective. This is the case of Parisoa Andriabolanarivo, independent mayor of the urban commune of Imerintsiatosika: “ Malagasy politicians are used to submitting their candidacies at the last minute. So, I assure you that there will be candidates, with all these municipalities. »
The CENI, for its part, wants to be reassuring. It affirms that this inevitable change of calendar will not affect the date of the election.